Cleanup begins as heavy snowfall hits Yakima Valley

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YAKIMA, Wash. -- A white winter is finally here. Heavy snowfall hit the Yakima Valley Saturday night. It kept many people busy cleaning up the streets.

Clearing the path was only one of the battles with Mother Nature."It's been very tedious all day,” said Brock Davis. “Just a lot of work."

Hours of shoveling, but Brock Davis knew it had to be done.

"It'd be very hard to walk,” said Brock. “We'd be tripping all over snow. We'd be getting our house soaking wet."

You now have a winter wonderland whether you wanted one or not.

It's been a very busy day for people in Yakima. KIMA saw people shoveling snow all day.

KIMA wanted to see how much snow was in one Yakima neighborhood. There was 11 inches of snow.

Yakima's Streets and Traffic Department plows snow when it reaches three inches. That includes major arterial roads and streets near schools, hospitals, stop signs and hills.

Removing snow from sidewalks in front of your house and business is also your responsibility. It's kept Jerry Bendall quite busy.

"Usually I get up at 3 o'clock in the morning, come out to check how bad the snow is,” said Jerry. “You get the first layer off of it. People start walking on it, it turns into ice and it makes the job a lot longer to do."

Yakima crews are on call 24/7 doing the best they can.

"I did slip and fall easily,” said Jerry. “I cracked an elbow before."

It's against the law to throw snow into the street in Yakima. It's recommended you don't park your car on the street. If you have to, try parking as close to the curb as possible.